Monday, July 31, 2017

There are two ways we all could have more Liberty in our elections. The first is called “Approval Voting,” and the second is called “Instant Run-off” elections. Approval voting means that people could vote for all of the candidates of whom they approved for every office. That means that, for example, if there were five candidates running for an office, and a voter would be content to have any three of them win, the voter could vote for all three of those candidates (but no one could vote more than once for any particular candidate.) Then all of the votes simply would be counted up, with the candidate receiving the most votes winning the election (see www.Electology.org.) In instant runoff elections, otherwise known as Ranked Choice Voting, people could vote for their first choice, but then they would have the opportunity to vote for their second choice as well. Then all first choices from all voters would be counted. But if no candidate won 50 percent plus one vote, with a flip of a computer switch, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated, and a second tally would be completed. All voters who had voted for the eliminated candidate would have their second choice counted in this “runoff” election. That procedure would be continued until one candidate won a majority of the votes (see http://ift.tt/1fQQa85). This process is now utilized by a dozen states and cities in our country, and those people seem to be happy with it.

Both of these approaches would almost completely eliminate the “spoiler” or “lesser of two evils” issues, because people could vote their consciences. In other words, people could vote their dreams, but they could also vote against their fears. In addition, the more radical candidates would be forced to moderate their positions, because they would have more direct information about the preferences of more of the voters. Actually, in many elections we have seen numerous voters casting their votes against candidates by voting for their opponents, instead of actually voting in favor of anyone. Both of these approaches would change that equation, which would bring more Liberty to our elections.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration and to further the discussion. And by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayOAI, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty!

Sunday, July 30, 2017

One of the most flagrant attacks upon Liberty and the due process of law is the federal government’s program of civil asset forfeiture. This program allows the police to confiscate people’s cash and other property if they “suspect” that it is linked to criminal (mostly drug) offenses – even if the subjects are never even charged with a crime! And, of course, the police have incentives to seize people’s property, since they get to keep part of the booty. Furthermore, when seizures occur, it is up to the owners of the property to file a lawsuit to get it back, and even then they have the burden of proof to show that it was not gained from a criminal offense. Some of those programs were pared down under President Obama, but US Attorney General Sessions recently announced a policy that will remove many protections from these “policing for profit” programs.

Most people agree that cash and property gained by illegal means should be forfeited to the government or otherwise returned to the victims. But that should only occur with two conditions. First, forfeiture could only occur after the subjects have been charged with and convicted of a criminal offense, with the same jury concluding that the property was obtained as a result of that illegality. Second, the forfeited property should go into the general fund, and not to any particular agency. That will remove improper incentives. Otherwise, at the very least, all of these forfeitures should be considered to be a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the imposition of excessive fines. Liberty demands that Attorney General Sessions rescind this new policy! Fortunately, all of us have the opportunity to have our voices heard by contacting our members of Congress and demanding the passage of the FAIR Act to reform federal asset forfeiture laws and stop incentivizing law enforcement seizures without a criminal conviction!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration and to further the discussion. And by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayOAI, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty!

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Mark Twain once supposedly said that “Be Yourself” is not good advice for many people. Yes, in most regards each of us, as adults, has the Liberty to act as we wish, as long as that does not wrongly affect the abilities of others to do the same. But how do we act with that Liberty? The great UCLA basketball coach Johnny Wooden once said that “Character is how we act when no one else is looking.” So every once in a while it should be helpful for each of us to pause and reflect upon how we act with that Liberty, which is to say: what really is our character? How do we act when no one else is looking? Is that the person we wish to be?

Many people have come to the conclusion that the greatest thing in life is not power, love, wealth or success, it is gratification. Not the short-term shallow stuff, but deep down. We can receive gratification by being involved with power, love, etc., but they are not ends in themselves. For example, worshipping the false god of materialism, i.e., the religion of “My yacht is bigger than your yacht,” is ultimately unsatisfying. (And you can always find somebody with a bigger yacht!) Instead, gratification can come from anonymous acts for family, friends or society in general that help to make the world a better place. The areas for most of us in which we can make these contributions are almost boundless: we live in the greatest country the world has ever seen and at the most exciting time, and we have so many opportunities to expand our knowledge, experiences, relationships and contributions. So think of the small and large acts of kindness that each of us can do – every day in our normal lives. Not only will that bring gratification to us and often to others, it will also demonstrate a character of which we can be proud.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration and to further the discussion. And by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayOAI, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty!

Friday, July 14, 2017

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union.” The Preamble to our Constitution, the greatest document in the history of the world that was ever inspired by man, decreed back in 1787 that “We the People” are in charge of our government, and thus our own destiny. And to a person, each of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention believed that the most important function of government was protecting our individual liberties from the encroachment of government. And now that power – and responsibility – has been passed down from the Founders to us. So now it is you and I who are “We the People.” Would the Founders be proud of us? Do we agree with them about the fundamental importance of individual liberty? Or, even worse, do we actually care?

We are coming once again to the Fourth of July! Happy Birthday America! But let each one of us celebrate this birthday by resolving not to take our great country – and all of the freedom and hope that it represents – for granted. Let’s resolve to do our part – on a regular basis – to stand up for Liberty whenever we think, talk, act and vote. We deserve the government that we get and recently we have not been doing a particularly good job. The Founders are relying on us. So Happy Fourth of July, in all of its ramifications!

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration and to further the discussion. And by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayOAI, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty!

Judge Jim Gray

Follow by Email

Twitter

Judge Jim Gray

About Judge Jim Gray

Cited on numerous occasions for his work in the areas of both social reform and civic philanthropy, Judge James P. Gray currently presides over the civil trial calendar for the Superior Court of Orange County.
Judge Gray was appointed to the Santa Ana Municipal Court in 1983 by Governor George Deukmejian, and in 1989, Deukmejian elevated Gray to his post with the Superior Court.
Throughout his 29-year career within the legal and judicial community, Jim Gray has not only donated hundreds of hours of volunteer time to existing community service-oriented activities, he also has created and implemented a number of innovative programs of his own, each one a success story in itself.